


Not a Sweet Pepper

by LunasWufei



Series: Snippets and Fix-Its [99]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Author does what he wants, BAMF Pepper Potts, F/M, Not Iron Man 2 Compliant, Partially Iron Man 1 Compliant, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Travel Fix-It, not SHIELD friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunasWufei/pseuds/LunasWufei
Summary: Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, as always.My usual fix it M.O., but something a little different, yet probably not? I dunno, either way, liberties taken as always. Enjoy if you can! Here we go.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Snippets and Fix-Its [99]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556170
Comments: 22
Kudos: 263
Collections: Tony Stark deserves more





	Not a Sweet Pepper

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, as always. 
> 
> My usual fix it M.O., but something a little different, yet probably not? I dunno, either way, liberties taken as always. Enjoy if you can! Here we go. 

  
  


“Good Morning, Ms. Potts.” JARVIS said, startling Pepper out of her little day dream. At least, that's what Tony or Jarvis would have thought it was. She blinked softly and looked around, very slowly, her eyes darting around with confusion and also a bit of fear. “Your heart rate is elevated, and you have started to perspire, should I contact medical professionals, Ms. Potts?” Tony’s AI dutifully provided. 

  
  


Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts shuddered and took in a deep breath. “No, Jarvis… I am fine, just a small scare.” She said with a soft smile, taking another few breaths. “Remnants of a nightmare, that’s all.” She said, cradling a cup of coffee, having stayed the night after yet another press conference about where Tony might be. Yet, now she knew where he was. 

  
  


“Very well, Ms. Potts.” The AI said softly, before continuing. “It is currently six forty-five in the morning, the weather is a balmy seventy five degrees, and it is May the twelfth.” He said, and Her eyes closed softly, letting the soothing tones of the most advanced of Tony’s children wash over her. She knew that date, remembered it. It was when Tony returned. 

  
  


“Answer it please, Jarvis.” She said, eyes still closed, just after her phone rang. “Potts.” She said, but she already knew who it was. 

  
  


“We found him.” Rhodey said, and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, until they did fall. “We’re about an hour out.” He said, and she sniffed softly, before nodding to herself. 

  
“I’ll be there, with Happy.” She said, and after some more soft words, she got up. “Jarvis, I know I don’t have that high level of clearance, but please… keep this quiet. Especially from the board, and… Obadiah.” She said, her tone clipped at his name, and there was a gentle hum from Jarvis. 

  
  


“Very well, Ms. Potts. I am most pleased to hear of Sir’s return.” He said, and she knew it was the truth, she could feel it. 

There might still be an Iron Man, but she would be damned if she let it go all to hell. She dressed just as she had before, and when she met Happy in the garage, she smiled. “Take us to the base, we’re expected. Oh, stop by a drive thru on the way, I am sure Tony would love a cheeseburger or two.” She said, and Happy nodded, before they were off. She sat down, after buckling up, absentmindedly stroking where her wedding ring had rested in a previous life. She hoped it would get there again. 

  
  
~NaSP~

  
  


“There are two things I want.” Tony started once they were in the car. “One, is an American cheeseburger.” He paused when a bag was presented to him, and he grinned. “Ah, you truly are the light of my life, Pep.” He said, and she flushed gently, hearing him say that… even having heard him say it as her husband a few days prior, was like sweet honey. “And second, a press conference.” He said, and she nodded. 

  
  


“I’ll get it started.” She said, and did just that on her PDA, before she handed him something to wash down the first few bites, and some extra strength painkillers, though they would not dull his senses, she knew he hated that. The press would be ready, and so would she. She took a soft breath when she saw Stane come and embrace Tony as if he wasn’t the one responsible for all of this to begin with. She took her spot, Happy not too far away. 

  
  


“Ms. Potts?” A not that welcome voice said from the side of her, and she turned to see Phil Coulson next to her, and he gave his neutral smile. Yet, before he could say anything more, she gestured to Happy, and he approached. 

  
  


“This man is not to be allowed anywhere near Stark Industries, or Mr. Stark. Please escort him from the premises.” Pepper said, and Coulson blinked in surprise, but he did not resist when he was escorted away. She then turned and made her way up to where Tony was speaking, after sitting down. He dropped his bombshell, and as he walked away and Stane was doing damage control, or trying to, she intercepted him. 

  
  


“I won’t change my mind, Pep, I can’t.” He said, and she took his un-injured arm with a gentle smile and a pat to it. 

  
  


“I am proud of you, Tony, I won’t fight you with this, at all.” She said, and the surprise showed on his face, but her smile was like a ray of sunshine. “We do have to talk though, come on, let’s get you looked at. I know you hate the hospital, but that cannot be good for you.” She gestured to his arm, but he could have sworn she gestured to his reactor, that was rather well hidden under his suit. 

  
  


“Sure thing, Pep, after we stop in here.” Tony said, before they were in the men’s restroom, and he was reminded just what months of torture food did to you in regards to the rich fat of an American burger. She rubbed his back softly as he revisited his cheeseburgers, and he grumbled in thanks when she handed him a small bottle of mouthwash from her purse. 

  
  


“So, remind me why we’re not dating yet?” He asked, after rinsing his mouth. 

  
  


“Because you’ve been a captive for three months, Tony. Ask me again when you’re fully recovered.” She said without missing a beat, and he blinked before they left the bathroom together, wiping his mouth and then starting to talk to her about all of the green energy he was going to bring the company into. She listened, putting in her two cents here and there, but she mostly let him talk. Listening to him feel so passionate about something, that was something she had been hurting for, in a way she had yet to realize until just now. 

  
~NaSP~

  
  
Pepper sat in the main kitchen area/bar of Tony’s mansion, while he was downstairs tinkering. He had just asked her to help replace the old reactor with a new one, and it was… she hated what that thing did to him. Yet, she knew it was how it was. There was only so much she could change. She sighed softly, for the tenth time in the last half hour or so, taking a sip of her wine. 

  
  


“Is something amiss, Ms. Potts?” Jarvis asked, and she frowned in thought, before she made up her mind. 

  
  


She took a fortifying breath, and then spoke. “I have information for events that threaten Tony, and it’s information I shouldn’t know.” She mumbled, but she knew he heard. “First, and most important right now, is that Mr. Stane is the reason for his captivity some months ago. He is the one dealing with the Ten Rings, and the black market dealings of Stark weapons.” She said, taking another drink. “He wants to rip Tony’s reactor from his chest, and use it for his own designs.” She hissed out, and there was silence, the eerie type of silence. 

  
  


“And what other information do you have, Ms. Potts?” Jarvis asked, and while his tone wasn’t cold, it was definitely not super friendly. 

  
  


“I know that he is working on a suit of armor to combat against those who would use his weapons to harm innocents.” She said, draining her glass and going for a bottle of water. “I also know that the palladium cores are slowly poisoning his blood, and he has perhaps two years before it gets really bad.” She mumbled softly, looking at the nearest camera. “I know about another fifteen years of information, though how much of it is really going to stay the same? I couldn’t tell you.” She said, closing her eyes. 

  
  


“Allow me… to think on this, if you would be so kind, Ms. Potts.” Jarvis said after a few beats of silence, she nodded and then thought. 

  
  


“Of course, though… the issue with Stane, I am taking care of that.” Pepper said, getting up with a slow exhale. “That… that is too close to home, too personal.” She said with a grumble, and there was an affirmative hum from Tony’s son, before she took out her pda and started to work on some things. 

  
~NaSP~

  
  


“ _...In domestic news, Obadiah Stane has been found in his home, apparently having accidentally overdosed on heart medication. We were unaware of said condition, but due to his advancing age, it is not so far fetched.” _ The reporter said, just as Pepper was coming into Tony’s workshop. 

  
  


“I’m guessing you’re coming here to tell me that Obie died?” Tony asked, and Pepper nodded softly though it was a bit more… sharp and cold than he would have expected. That was explained, though, when she slid a manila folder to him. He raised an eyebrow, but then opened it up and started to read. As he did so, his eyes clouded with more and more ire, until he gave her a sharp look. 

  
  


“I was compiling that for you, I wanted to be one hundred percent.” Pepper said, and he nodded sharply. “I didn’t want to come all half assed, that is not my style.” She said, and he huffed softly, it was definitely an unamused kind of chuckle, though it wasn’t directed at her, not really. 

  
  


“Thank you, Ms. Potts.” Tony started, closing it and sliding it away. “I think… I want to take S.I. private…” He mumbled, and she nodded gently, already starting to type things out. “I also think that you’re in for a promotion. Any requests?” He asked, and she smiled gently. 

  
  


“CFO, I think… would be best.” Pepper said, and he leaned back with a stroke to his chin, and she had to resist the urge to reach out and run her fingers through his hair. 

  
“Yeah, I think that sounds good. Get the paperwork ready. I am going to be needing a new assistant, though.” Tony said, before getting up with a groan, stretching gently. 

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” 

“That will be all, Ms. Potts.” 

  
  


~NaSP~

  
  


Tony froze as Pepper opened up his shop as Jarvis was taking off his armor, or at least attempting to. She blinked slowly, and came over to his desk. “I have these you need to sign when you’re done there, Tony.” She said, and he tilted his head softly, then hissed when something pinched. 

  
  


“Alright, so we’re going to gloss over everything, then? Cool.” Tony said, and Pepper watched as the armor was taken from him, Jarvis speaking as he squirmed. 

  
  


“I told you, Sir, that it was too tight. You should have allowed me to heat it up just a bit, to allow it to be more malleable.” Jarvis said, and Pepper smiled gently. 

  
  


“Yes, well, metal tends to be nice and burning when it gets hot enough. Lets not have that, shall we? Trying to save the world here, one piece at a time.” Tony responded, and he couldn’t miss the fondness in Pepper’s eyes, the way her face seemed to be delighted at watching him as he was. It didn’t take much longer before he was sitting in front of Pepper, signing things with a put upon grimace. 

  
  


“I think you should listen to Jarvis, Tony. I am sure he knows the proper temperature so you wouldn’t be hurt.” Pepper said, and he gave her a look. 

  
  


They had a stare off for a bit, before he grumbled. “Teaming up on me, not fair, honestly. Fine.” He said, but it was mirthful, to be sure. “Want a suit?” He said with a wriggle of his eyebrows. 

  
  


Her response, though, was not what he expected. At all. “Sure thing, Tony. Once you refine your fabrication process, and let me pick the colors? Not a fan of such gaudy aesthetics like you are.” She said, before she got up, and then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And be safe, Tony.” She said, before she went off, and he was left blinking. 

  
  


“Jay… play all of that back for me? I want to be sure I’m not suffering from a high from lack of altitude.” He said, and Jarvis dutifully played it back. “Well, guess I am not hallucinating. Good to know!” He said, and then shook his head, he had to think, and he did his best thinking when he was working. So back to work it was. 

  
  
~NaSP~

  
  


“Your resume is impeccable.” Pepper said as she looked across at ‘Natalie Rushman’. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, against the demure and shy gaze of the redhead at the other end of the desk. 

  
  


“Thank you, Ms. Potts.” Rushman said, smiling softly. “I hope to take care of everything that is needed for Mr. Stark. I am aware I can never replace you, but I will do my best to follow in your footsteps.” She said, as if she got the job already. 

  
  


“There is just one thing wrong with your resume, Ms. Rushman.” Potts said, and the woman tilted her head in question. “You spelled your name wrong. I do believe it is Natalia Romanova, yes?” She asked, and before much else could be said, two compartments on either side of the desk opened and two masterfully hidden turrets appeared. 

  
  


“You have me confused with someone else, Ms. Potts, truly.” Romanova said, swallowing and sweating for good effect. Pepper was not convinced, her eyes were cold and the turrets made an ominous clicking sound. 

  
  


They had a staring contest for a few beats, before Pepper spoke. Her tone was frigid, to say the least. “You have two options here, Black Widow.” She started, and Natasha barely held in a flinch. “You either confess, and leave without a job and a message to your boss to stay  _ the fuck away _ from Tony and S.I., or I act in self defense, and have to get a cleanup crew here.” She said, and being as well versed in threats as she was, Natalia knew this was not a bluff. 

  
  


“Fury won’t be happ-’   
  
  
“Nicholas Joseph Fury can go fuck himself.” Pepper hissed, getting up and slamming her hands on the desk. The turrets started to slowly spin up with the whine of the miniature reactors in them. 

  
  


“Alright… alright.” Natalia said, raising her hands in supplication. “I’ll leave.” She mumbled, and got up, not picking up her fake resume or anything. 

  
  


“Leave, and don’t give me any half-assed threatening, warning bullshit about SHIELD. I don’t care.” Potts said, and the woman nodded before leaving. Pepper sighed and sat down, rubbing her face softly, the turrets vanishing. 

  
  


“That was great, boss lady.” The tailored to her AI, FRIDAY, said from her earpiece. “I had your back, but you didn’t even need me!” She said, and then spoke softer, even if only Pepper could hear her. “Want me to track her down?” She asked, and Pepper hummed gently. 

  
  


“No, that’s alright, JOCASTA is doing that.” Pepper replied, and there was an affirmative hum, before she got up, putting on her bracelet from Tony, which was both lovely and functional, and made her way out. They had a date, and she would interview for another secretary tomorrow. What mattered now, though, was they there would be no honey pot trying to wriggle into Tony’s life. 

  
  
~NaSP~

  
  


Pepper smiled softly as she watched Tony enjoy his fortieth birthday party, this time without the toxicity running through his veins, and the drunk crashing about against his best friend. Ivan Vanko had been taken care of, and Pepper was working with FRIDAY, JARVIS, and JOCASTA to keep any other threats from bothering her boyfriend. 

  
  


Sure, not everything would be perfect. She was sure things were changing against the knowledge of what she had brought back with her, but she would be damned if she didn’t do everything in her power to make the future a happy one. For the world, and for their future together. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So that is it. I wanted to write more, but my muse insisted I stop and go towards another story idea. It is, what it is, I suppose. Read and review please, stay safe out there everyone! 


End file.
